Recent advances in genetic engineering have provided plant breeders and geneticists with the tools to insert or transform genes, which are selected portions of deoxyribonucleic acid (also known as DNA), into a plant in order to produce new kinds of plants known as transgenic plants. Such transgenic plants or crops can have unique characteristics or traits, including resistance to plant diseases, resistance to herbicides, resistance to insects, enhanced stability or shelf-life of the ultimate consumer product obtained from the plant and/or improvements in the nutritional value in the edible portions of the plant. Genes are made up of DNA, a complex molecule inside each plant cell that provides the instructions for all aspects of the plant's growth. A promoter is a region on a gene where transcription factors can bind to enable the gene to "express" itself through the production of another, but smaller molecule known as messenger RNA. Messenger RNA enables the gene to "deliver" its message or instructions to other parts of the plant cell in many cases by being translated into a protein. Various plant promoters have been identified and isolated from different plants, as described in various patents, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,536,653; 5,589,583; 5,608,150; and 5,898,096. Although effective, such promoters have not been modified or optimized to provide enhanced or improved characteristics or traits. It would be desirable to provide plant promoters that have been modified to advantageously provide improved characteristics or traits in plants.